


Song of Souls

by TyQu



Series: Cardenia [1]
Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:48:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28129407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TyQu/pseuds/TyQu
Summary: This is just up for me to keep track of word counts and stuff. You can read if you want.
Series: Cardenia [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060751





	1. Ingwaz: Born on the Waves

Ingwaz looked out into the swirling ocean waves. He felt the floorboards tilt towards the churning water’s surface. Foam and spray burst up showering the deck. The salted winds tangled with his hair and he stared out ahead of him, into the mixture of blue’s and grays. The sea was angry, irritated and swollen with fury. 

If Ingwaz had been any ordinary sailor the current conditions would have tossed him into the big blue already, lost beneath the solid colour and gone forever. Even if an ordinary sailor had somehow managed to cling the boat with all his might, there would be no way such a person could stare out into the waves with anything except despair and horror, let alone confidence, but here was Ignwaz, with such a look in his eyes that rivaled excitement. 

The sea was his land, the waves nothing more than rolling grass hills to him, the deafening wind mere background noise. He had grown up as part of the ship, as part of the sea. As part of the Shipidale Neptire, as a Fyukyre. He was, quite literally, born for this. 

Of course, it helped that he had firm control over his ship. His lovely vessel the Rhyton, glowed a burning gold, brighter than a king’s goblet. Ingwaz’s long hair blazed the same shimmery yellow, a harsh contrast to the inky blues that stormed around him. It whipped back and forth in the wind, however, his figure remained firm, and balanced. Everynow and then all he had to do was shift his weight slightly to one knee. Riding out the storm was as easy as riding a horse, though could be more comparable to the mountain art of skiing.

It was a sport, nearly, to Ingwaz it was just as fun as one, though he did feel mildly annoyed by the fact that his clothes were now soaked through. His wallower skin cloak had been lost a few ocean tunnels ago, and thus the amount of laundry stops that had to be done increased vastly without his waterproof attire. He could have easily acquired another one, however, being the most skilled at warding off wallowers came with the unfortunate price that none of the horrendous beasts wanted to pick at him anymore. It seemed they had managed to warn each other and were wisely deciding to avoid the gold ship, at least for now. 

However, that didn’t matter much, as Ingwaz planned to take a little break of his own, the trip he took every couple of years to the southern coast of Midris, Argondy bay, a quaint little fishing town, very picturesque, a fairly popular tourist destination for that region. However, Ingwaz wasn’t there to sightsee, he loved the town, truly, it was a prominent part of his life as a location he often remembered fondly, however, not so much for the scenery, not even for the people, but for the very specific steak and ale pie sold in the the little inn. 

Living off the sea was his life, it brought him great joy, however, it did limit his pallet. Along with the fact that Ingwaz was unfortunately, not the best at cooking either. Steak and Ale pie, was so grounding, so warm, such a heavy hearty meal, it was (and Ingwaz was not ashamed to admit this), his favorite food in the whole of Cardenia. 

As the sea wailed and desperately pulled on the sides of the Rhyton, trying to tear it down Ingwaz persisted, humming to himself as he went. The boat cut through the water like a knife through cake and Ignwaz was sure he’d be down south in no time. 

At the rate he was going he estimated another hour or so, the winds told him, every drop of ocean salt, every tiny dip and twist in the movement of the ship, Igwaz could read it like a map and a clock combined. Any place in the world, he could get there eventually, he was sure of it. However, he was pretty hungry, and wasn’t sure if he wanted to spend another hour upon the waves getting there. The ship was easy to move on water, so easy in fact, that Ingwaz didn’t even need sails. After all, why use the unfavorable winds when you could just ignite fyufyre? However, if he was going to speed this process up he was going to need a little more assistance than just his magic. 

Flying wasn’t something Ingwaz did often, not necessarily because he didn’t like it, but rather he didn’t need to fly so often. There were only two times his ship would ever leave the water, when he wanted to get somewhere quicker, or when he needed to sail over land. Given he was still miles away from anywhere solid other than his boat it was obvious he intended to use the air to give him a quick boost. 

And that was exactly what he did. A grin flashed upon his face as his golden hair grew brighter, almost luminous in itself. The ship copied this pattern in change, and as it did so, began to rise slowly out of the water. It creaked and trembled as it began to float upwards The sea lapped furiously at the bottom of the boat, trying to snatch it back, but the glowing vessel was already far above even the most towering waves. 

Ingwaz sighed as he moved away from his position at the forecastle towards his ropes. Taking out his boat key he began wrenching at the wooden poles, his sail, which appeared fresh white in the storm as it had not been used in a while, began to unfurl. It caught the wind almost immediately, and as soon as it did Ingwaz locked the ropes and jogged towards the helm, seizing the handles with two firm hands as he watched the clouds carefully. 

The boat now trembled slightly, far more bouncy than before in it’s movements than before, but much faster in the storm. Ingwaz felt the determined smile upon his face twitch slightly as a strong gust of rainy wind spurred his little ship onwards. He stayed steady at the wheel, not daring to loosen his grip as the Rhyton was sent reeling through the clouds. He was really going to have to work for his food this time. Not that he minded, he was sure it would taste twice as brilliant now. 

And that was how he ended up bursting through the clouds at the other end of the storm, him and his boat in gleaming glory that would have blinded anyone who was far out enough at sea to see it. Ingwaz spotted the outline of coastal land mass in the distance, just beyond the gloomy grey and cheered loudly into the sky. He had made it. 

Now although it was known little Argondy bay had a lot of visitors during the year, it was more of a local hotspot, attracting the sort of people from a few towns over or their family from just a bit further up north. It wasn’t the sort of place that expected a Fyukyre to come hurtling through the sky and crashing into their bay from nearly three kingdoms away. No, if Ingwaz to have a truly honest and relaxing break, he needed subtlety. A Glowing gold ship was not subtle. 

Ingwaz quickly ran back down to the front of his ship, and began winding in the sail as fast as he could, quickly locking it again and putting the key back under the boards. Once everything was tidied away Ingwaz drew in a deep breath. Exhaling slowly through his nose, he carefully began to lessen the amount of fyufyre he was radiating. He felt his wild hair gently flutter around him as the Rhyton sunk through the air. As it did so, the ship also began to lose it’s brilliant glow. It’s surface morphed into one of a regular looking wooden boat, brown, beaten and damp. 

The boat landed upon the waves once more with a smack that jostled the vessel. Ingwaz nearly lost his footing, however, he was quick to steady himself, after all, his balance was immaculate. 

“That could have been a smoother landing.” He snorted, to no one in particular. 

As the wind gently blew him into port, Ingwaz quickly tied his now regular blonde hair into a loose low ponytail. He also tried to fix his appearance a little, so that he didn’t stand out too much. Deciding to take off his long green cloak, and bundling it into a leather satchel which he then hung over his shoulder. 

He smiled happily as the Rhyton drifted safely to the harbour sides. Once close enough to land Ingwaz untied the wooden plank from the side of the ship hoisting it overboard. Swinging it over his shoulder he then carried it forwards, waiting a second before carefully laying it down. The end side of the wood thudded against the pavement of the port, linking the ship with land. 

A man in a coat stood up from a nearby bench upon his arrival and motioned for Ingwaz to toss him his rope. However, Ingwaz just laughed and shook his head politely, lightly stepped down the plank, carrying rope over his shoulder, which he proceeded to secure firmly around one of the iron cleats. The man grunted and walked back to the bench where he sat down heavily with a sigh. It wasn’t uncommon for destinations these days to have people who would offer to help sailors moor in exchange for money. Really, quite a good idea if Ingwaz was honest, but unneeded for himself. He was perfectly capable of doing everything alone, it was almost part of his brand now. 

He had started accumulating nicknames these past few years as the new emerging Navigator and Questseeker everyone had their eyes on, the Nepitire Sailor, the Wallower warrior, the Golden storm rider. All rather silly if he was honest, but good for business. He had even begun receiving requests outside of the Shipidale union, from non Fyukyre folk such as these townspeople. However, he wasn’t quite so established within any of the kingdoms. Not that he needed to be, yet. 

Ingwaz was definitely not one to splurge with his money, however, theoretically he could take a twenty years rest just for himself with the small fortune he had made off of quests alone. Part of it was due saving up of course and his exceptional self sufficiency within most parts of his life. However, it wasn’t exactly cheap to hire out a Questseeker, especially for big journeys. Ingwaz had nothing to lose in life, and tended to take on the jobs most people would refuse out of fear or lack of experience and was in demand within his community. Obviously when someone’s services are in demand the price gets higher and well, the rest is fairly self explanatory. It hadn’t been his plan to end up this way at all, sometimes he even wondered to himself whether all this money was a good thing and what he would do with it, but he was sure there would come a time one day when he'd find a use for it. For now, he was going to spend it on steak and ale pie. 

Once ashore, Ingwaz double checked all his belongings were secured before heading off into town. There were many little seaside shops and bed and breakfasts lined up across the front. Because of the unfortunate bad weather of today they were annoyingly very busy. Ingwaz could see crowds of people within these little inns and taverns and was sure the tavern he wished to go to would be much the same. Not to mention it was nearing meal time for most people. 

Turning down one of the nearby side streets he spotted it, a small charming building with crown glass windows and a wooden sign hung from the side. The sign was clearly handcrafted with a painting of a boar's head with an apple in its mouth. There was golden lettering beneath which simply said “the Argondy Inn”. Nothing too fancy, nice and simple, besides Ingwaz wasn’t here to critique the inn, he was here to tuck in. 

Swinging open the red painted door, he stepped into the inviting warmth of the inn and was immediately hit by the smell of bubbly beer, roasting meat, and smoke from the fireplace. The chatter was loud, but easily ignorable and Ingwaz would find it became background noise very quickly for him. The already small room was made to feel smaller by the packed presence of many many visitors. Not to mention the low ceiling, which wasn’t unusual for these types of towns, Ingwaz was just grateful he wasn’t freakishly tall like some of his kind could be. 

He peered around trying to glance over the heads of the drunken crowd. It was hard to see at first, with so many people in the way, however, one of the servers was able to catch his eye from near the bar. She flashed him a smile as she set her tray down, signalling she was on her way over. Ingwaz smiled back to show her he understood. 

“Oi, you’re blocking the door mate.” A rather intoxicated man snapped at him, trying to barge past. 

“Oh, sorry about that.” Ingwaz apologised stepping away to the side. 

Oh boy, he couldn’t wait to be seated. Thankfully the server was very quick and had managed to weave her way towards him almost expertly. She brushed her hair behind her shoulder and gave a quick curtsy. 

“Hello sir, how may I help you?” She asked.

“I was wondering if I could get some food and drink?” Ingwaz replied, raising his voice slightly as a nearby table began hooting with laughter. 

“And a room sir? We have a laundry deal going. We'll wash your clothes for ya if you get a room with your food,” She laughed, “Usually it's the other way round, I’m asking travellers to get food with their room.”

“Ah it’s okay,” Ingwaz replied, wondering how he’d been sussed out as a traveler instead of a tourist already, “I’ll sleep on my boat.”

“Are you sure? Our beds are extra comfy, not nearly as cramped as a boat!” She proposed, wiggling her eyebrows at him. 

“Nah, thanks for the offer but I’m good.” He decided. Again he wasn’t stingy with money, but why would he pay for something when he could provide it himself cheaply?

“Alright, I understand.” The server smiled, then motioned for him to follow her into the busy tavern. 

Ingwaz ducked under one of the low wooden bars on the ceiling and down two of three small stone steps following her through the maze of people. 

“So I’m afraid we are rather busy right now, we don’t really have any solo tables free so you might have to share?” She told him questioningly. 

“What about a solo stool at the bar?” He asked, rather reluctant at the idea of sitting with a load of rowdy drunk strangers.

“The bar is far rowdier than any table trust me,” The server said waving him off, “Assuming that was your issue right? Want a more peaceful meal? I know a lone wolf type figure when I see one.”

Ingwaz didn’t know whether to laugh or not. Lone wolf. Another ridiculous label. She was right though. 

“Yeah, I prefer to dine alone.” He admitted. 

“Well look here, see that corner table by the fireplace?”

Ingwaz followed the direction the lady had just motioned in. Sat at one of the wooden benches were two figures, both had their hoods up obscuring their faces in shadow and one of them had even tucked a navy scarf around the lower half of their face. They had to be one of the most shady looking pairs Ingwaz had ever laid eyes on. 

“Those two have been sitting here for a while now. Waiting for their food, though I suppose once they get it they’ll be off to their room pretty quickly. They have been super quiet this whole night and I’m sure wouldn’t bother you one bit,” The server explained, “Besides, you could use a spot close to the fire to dry off, your clothes are drenched sir.”

Ingwaz felt stuck. 

“With all due respect, those two look like no good.” 

‘And with all due respect, you're making a puddle in the middle of my floor,” The server replied, hustling him forwards, “Now go dry off.”

Ingwaz sighed reluctantly as he was herded towards the corner table. The two people looked up briefly as he approached, but looked down again fast once they realised he was coming to sit with them. 

“Take a seat here sir,” The lady said pleasantly, adjusting her apron as she gave him a light push towards the bench opposite the strange duo, “And what would you like to eat?”

Ingwaz felt himself sit up slightly at this question. Of course. What would make this awkward sitting all worth it. 

“A steak and ale pie, with a strong beer please.” Ingwaz asked, almost picturing the meal right in front of him. 

“Alrighty sir! I’ll get that for you right away. Sit tight.” 

Just like that the server girl left, swallowed back up by the crowd of tourists laughing and clinking glasses.

Ingwaz sighed and rubbed his hands together, feeling the warmth from the fire wafting over. He hummed lowly to himself, hoping to ease the very obvious hostile energy being projected over by his new bench mates. 

Ingwaz decided to busy himself by braiding his hair. He’d tied it up earlier, but once your hair reaches down to the length of your thighs there’s only so much tying up your hair can do. Ingwaz wanted to make sure it was properly out of the way for the time he was on land. He had braided his hair many times before, he didn’t even have to think about the action, his fingers just worked away as if they were playing an instrument. 

Unfortunately, because he was so skilled in the art of hair braiding, he finished his distractionary task far too quickly. The awkward heavy silence between him and these strangers had returned, far more powerful than before. Were they staring at him or was he just being anxious? He couldn’t tell since they were doing such a good job at hiding their faces.

“Ahem, excuse me,” He decided to ask, giving an uncomfortable cough, “How long have you two been waiting for your food?”

One of the hooded figures, the one with the scarf, seemed to startle at being addressed directly and very quickly looked at the floor. The other, however, didn’t flinch at the question.

“An hour.” Came a sour, unfazed voice.

Ingwaz was surprised to hear such an accent from the pair, but also despaired slightly as he realised these two had obviously come a long way. The crossover region, if Ingwaz remembered correctly, was on the complete opposite side of Midris. This pair was definitely trouble. 

“Ah right.” Ingwaz managed to say. An hour. Hopefully their food wouldn’t be much longer than that. Once the two could get their meals he could finally relax as they would hopefully leave fairly quickly after.

Ingwaz drummed his fingers on the table, patiently. Eventually the server lady returned to the table, but only to hand Ingwaz a large mug of beer.

“I’m sorry, the kitchens are rather busy right now.” She apologised, then left once again. 

Ingwaz adjusted the collar of his shirt. Okay, okay, this was fine, he could work with this. He looked up when he heard the distant clap of thunder and saw sketching streaks of rain appear against the glass of the tavern’s windows. It seemed like the storm had finally caught up with the town. 

Ingwaz sipped his beer as he thought of ways he could pass the time, given he was probably going to be here for a while. After considering, he remembered he still had some left over Aluca crystals from his last mission. Aluca crystals were considered very valuable as they were incredibly good light sources. Even the tiniest shard of Aluca rivaled the full flame of a candle. Ingwaz found they made very good stones to use in earrings. 

With his decision made, Ingwaz reached inside one of his leather pockets and fumbled around until he found his pliers and wire which he laid out on the table. He then took his little pouch of stones and emptied them on to the wooden surface with a clatter. They glowed lovely colours, these particular Aluca were a rich forest green. They would make lovely accessories. Creating necklaces, bracelets and earrings were some of Ingwaz’s favourite hobbies. He found they made lovely presents, at least, they did back when Ingwaz had people to give them too. They were also nice to keep for himself, though he found he was already wearing about four earrings per ear anyway. If he wasn’t going to wear these they’d be nice just to keep. 

He was about halfway through bending the wire around the outside of one of the gemstones when a cough from the other side of the table alerted him. 

“Excuse me,” said the stranger with the thick crossover accent, “can you move if you're going to do that here?” 

Ingwaz was surprised. 

‘Why?”he asked. 

“I have an allergy to those things,” the stranger scoffed, motioning to the crystals. 

Ingwaz almost felt bad before he remembered Aluca allergies definitely didn’t exist and this stranger was just being rude. 

“Ha ha, very funny,” Ingwaz replied dryly, “Seriously, why?”

“Look, you aren’t exactly being discreet waving all these jewels and stuff everywhere. People are looking.” The stranger hissed leaning forwards slightly. 

“I’m not worried about people stealing things from me.” Ingwaz said confidently, he found the idea almost laughable. 

“Nor am I. I don’t give a hoot about your belongings but I do about mine. I don’t want people to think we’re like you.” The nasty stranger replied, crossing their arms.

Ingwaz raised an eyebrow setting his pliers down on the table. 

“Oh you don’t want people associating you with me? That’s rich coming from the two most shady looking folk in this room.” 

“We aren’t shady looking,” The stranger protested, “We are just trying to mind our own business.”

“What? By dressing like you're about to try and sell me magic organs on the black market?” Ingwaz replied unimpressed. 

“You’re the one who sticks out like a sore thumb blondie, with all that hair and your bag of fancy gemstones.” 

“What? Oh come on, no one notices the hair.” 

“Oh they definitely do, what are you? A broom?” The stranger snapped back, “And don’t even get me started on your clothes. You have like four different layers on and eight necklaces with teeth in them. Not to mention that stupid heaband.”

Ingwaz frowned, raising a hand to feel the beaded Neptire headband he had been awarded after the return. 

“Okay kid. I get you have issues, but if you want them sorted why don’t you and your pal over here just move.” 

“What?” The stranger said, voice raised slightly, “We were here first! You should move.”

“Nuh uh,” Ingwaz replied, going back to bending wire around the Aluca stone, “The server lady told me I have to sit here and dry off so I don’t get sea water everywhere. You move.” 

Even though he couldn’t see the face of the stranger properly he could tell they were furious. He chuckled inwardly to himself as he continued fashioning his earrings. He waited for the stranger’s snarky reply, but when it didn’t come he took a peek upwards to see if they had actually left. 

They hadn't; they were still sitting right there opposite him. However, the stranger was no longer looking at him, or with fury, they were looking upwards behind him in complete and utter silence. Then in the reflection of the window, Ingwaz saw the flash of a blade being drawn. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Ingwaz: No Pie

Ingwaz barely had time to react before the blade was swung down towards his head. Whipping around sharply Ingwaz thrust his hand forwards. He felt the sharp points of his pliers sink into the eye socket of his sneak attacker. Blood spurted out splashing across his face as the sword fell to the ground with a crash.

The person howled in agony. The entire tavern screamed. Ingwaz looked down for just long enough to see his assassinator, a lady in a blue dress, scramble up off of the floor and stagger towards the bar. He then had to duck and roll out of the way as several black blades embedded themselves in the bench he had been sitting on a moment ago. 

These blades were jagged, spiky and rough, they looked as if they were dried lava with a metallic shine. Ingwaz knew instantly what they were dealing with.

“Turrotian! Everybody get out! Get out!” He shouted. 

Most people had already been fleeing for the door, but those few who lingered too shocked to move at first finally came to their senses and began to run.

Ingwaz saw another round of dark spikes shoot towards him from the bar and was going to grab a plate to try and block them when a figure jumped down in front of him. 

The rude stranger from earlier, weilding a rather large looking knife, skillfully deflected the most lethal of the blows. This gave Ingwaz a chance to finally look at his attacker again. This time there were two. 

Ingwaz realised the girl he had nearly blinded earlier was not the turrotian, but rather this new lady who stood next to her. Whilst the blue dressed girl seemed incapable of moving much, now leaning against the bar for support as her chestnut hair became red and matted, this newer lady seemed well prepared for the fight. 

Her hair was ink black, her body shrouded by a sapphire blue robe, glints of metallic armour shone beneath it. Her hand was outstretched and dripping with black blood. As this the liquid hit the floor, it very quickly hardened and sharpened, the same material of the shard that had been cast at him earlier. The deadly blood magic of a turrotian witch.

Ingwaz leapt to his feet as the tall lady drew her arm back once more, ready to send another round of spikes their way. He cursed himself for not bringing any big weapons with him and looked around the room desperately. He spotted his bloodied pliers upon the floorboards and leaped down to pick them up.

He heard the stranger from earlier curse loudly as a blood shard hit them in the shoulder. They toppled backwards unsteadily and collapsed right on top of Ingwaz. Ingwaz yelped and carefully tried to move the stranger off of him. As he did so he spotted their knife and picked it up quickly.

“Hey-” The stranger tried to yell, but Ingwaz was already back up off of the ground. 

He tore the string he had used to keep his hair braided away and shook his head. As he did so his hair began to light up with a furious golden glow. So did the knife in his hands. The blade of this seax began to morph, the already wide metal widening further and the sharp point stretching forwards. Soon he was clutching not a knife, but a sword, and one that was ready for blood. 

Ingwaz dove forwards, knocking back an incoming spike and directing his blade straight for the lady's neck. There was a small flash of surprise in her ice blue eyes, before it was gone once more and replaced by fury. 

A horrific clang rang out in the room as the luminous blade of his seax collided with the spiky hastily forged blade of the turrotian. She gritted her teeth at him before pushing her hand forwards and shoving Ingwaz to the floor. 

His back hit the wood with a thump. He gasped heavily as he watched her blood blade morph in her hands, the handle becoming thinner and the blade at the top curving until it became an axe. An axe for Ingwaz’s own execution. As if he would let that happen. 

He cried out loudly throwing his sword at her with deadly aim, ready for it to hit her square in the forehead. She dogged at the last minute, but wasn’t prepared for Ingwaz to send a powerful kick to her arm. He aimed to break it, however he didn’t hear any bones snap. His run up hadn’t been hard enough. 

The lady gave a grunt as she rubbed her shoulder, glaring at Ingwaz. It had clearly hurt. But not enough, Ingwaz soon realized as she raised her hand once more, the dark liquid already twisting and curling around her finger tips. Ingwaz prepared himself to doge once more, when he caught sight of the stranger from earlier.

They had climbed up on top of the fireplace mantle, his pliers clutched tightly in their fist. Ingwaz had no idea what they were doing until he watched the person artfully leap on top of the round iron hanging light. It gave a squeaky creak under the new added weight, and sent the shadows in the room spiralling, alerting their two attackers to look up. 

It was too late. Snapping the rope that held the light suspended in the air, the iron round dropped down like a stone. Ingwaz heard one of the girls scream as the sound of iron cracking wood rung out. He himself stumbled backwards and fell to the floor again, though he hadn’t been crushed. Ingwaz didn’t have time to see if it had done any damage, as he saw two pairs of boots running towards the door. 

“Hey wait my pliers!” He yelled leaping off of the ground and chasing them outside. 

It was still raining as he came tumbling out of the inn, the wind hit him in the face full force. He could hear the waves smashing in the harbour just streets away. He blinked away the streaky raindrops just in time to see the two figures turn left down the end of the street. 

Ingwaz wasted no time in chasing them. Water filled his boots as he stomped through the newly formed puddles in the streets. He soon realised where the two strangers were headed, towards the dock. 

“Wait!” He shouted after them, but the wind very quickly took his voice and tossed it away behind him. 

Ingwaz sighed in frustration and tried to run faster. He spared a moment to look behind him to see if he himself was being chased, however, there was nothing to see in the cold empty streets. 

Ingwaz came sprinting on to the sea front, it was showering so hard he could hardly see in front of himself, everything was covered in a curtain of rain. He looked around hurriedly, trying to see where the two could have possibly gone. As he was squinting through the wind he spotted the docking man from earlier taking shelter under a nearby shop canopy. 

“Sir! Excuse me sir!” He called out running forwards waving at the man.

The man looked up at him, recognition spreading across his face. 

“Ah you're the sailor from earlier. Need some help leaving?”

Ingwaz shook his head quickly. 

“No sir, I was just wondering if you happened to see two people wearing cloaks run by. Awfully suspicious looking folk. I need to know where they went.” He told the man, holding his hand up to keep his loose hair from blowing into his face. 

“Aye, I did, they went down the steps at the side, where the smaller boats are.”

“Thank you kindly sir!” Ingwaz nodded, rifling through his pocket before tossing the dock man a small shard of Aluca.

He then took off in the direction the man had said the steps were. He soon found them, tiny bits of stone jutting out down the wide of the harbour wall. You could hardly call them steps, especially not in this weather, where their surfaces were shiny with water ready to cause anyone to slip. For a moment Ingwaz thought this might have been the fate the two from the tavern had met, but he only needed to look down to see what was actually occurring. 

A long piece of wood, supposed to be a floating dock, was bobbing up and down in the water as wave upon wave sent it smashing into the wall. Tethered to it were a number of small wooden rowing boats, also getting tossed around like salad in a salad bowl. One of them however, seemed to be missing from this neat little line, it’s rope now whipping back and forth in the wind like a snake. No boat on the other end. 

The water was so turbulent, Ingwaz couldn’t see the little rowing boat or it’s two inhabitants. He didn’t need to. He knew what danger they would be in and cursed. Foolish. He didn’t need his pliers back that badly, he was great at craft and not lacking in money. He could buy some new ones or make them himself. However, what he couldn’t get back was the nice relaxing break he was supposed to have been taking, so he figured he might as well try and stop people from drowning and causing his day to be more miserable than it already was. 

He wasted no time in clambering back into his ship. He untied the rope from the cleat keeping his boat from drifting away, and dashed towards the front ready to harness the power of the fyufyre once more.

He inhaled sharply, feeling the Rhyton become alive with his energy. His boat lighting up the dark water around it like a newly struck match. He carefully but quickly concentrated on getting the Rhyton away from the harbour wall. Despite the volatile sea surface, the ship moved steadily and easily. Once a good distance away from being wrecked he willed his ship to surge forwards, into the waves, and it did so with a mighty splash. 

He didn’t need to wait long before he spotted a glimpse of a struggling wooden boat barely staying afloat upon one of the ocean mountains. Ingwaz cracked his knuckles in his palm, wondering how he was going to do this. The boat didn’t have much time before it would be toppled and it’s occupants dead. 

Ingwaz swallowed, his shoulders tense. He made up his mind quickly, lifting up one of the wooden boards he pulled his spare rope out upon the deck, he then rushed over to open up one of the creates he had left his cloak in. Once he had tied it on tightly he clicked his fingers. A spark of Fyufyre ignited his cloak causing it to blaze up the same way his ship had, it spread out behind like the wings of a seagull. 

Ingwaz then rapidly tied the spare rope around his waist securely. He could feel it poking him under the ribs. Then for the last thing he had to. Getting the other end of the rope he fastened it to his wooden mast, looping it round three times just to be sure. He gave it a strong tug to see how well it held. Well enough.

He then turned back around looking out into the dark swirling waters and streams of rain. He held his breath as he stepped up onto the railing of the Rhyton, closed his eyes, before jumping off. For a moment he felt himself falling, the agitated water ready to whisk him away as he tumbled towards it head first. Then he felt the wind catch upon his cloak and suddenly he was soaring upwards. The draft caught the fabric suspending Ingwaz in the air like a kite. 

Once he realised he was not about to come crashing down again, Ingwaz clenched his jaw in determination and began kicking his legs as if swimming through the air. The struggle against the wind was immense, but Ingwaz felt his will power increase when he saw a snapshot of the little boat still out there. He had to reach it. He would reach it. 

Diving forwards Ingwaz felt himself soar closer and closer to the boat, and began actively trying to dive downwards. As he came nearer he could see the two struggling. Both oars, presuming they had had them in the first place, were nowhere in sight. The two strangers were clinging to the side of the boat and each other with all their might. 

Ingwaz drew in a deep breath and screamed at them through the roars of the winds and the waves.

His shouting seemed to just about get their attention, the scarfless figure looking up as he rapidly descended towards them. 

“I’m here to help!” He cried out as he managed to grab the side of their boat with his hands. The wind was trying to pull him back into the air but he held on tight, his knuckles white with the pressure. 

“Take him first!” The scarfless stranger pleaded, pushing their companion towards Ingwaz desperately. 

Ingwaz nodded, his sense of purpose now solely on getting this person safely to his own boat. 

“Try hang on for as long as you can,” He yelled to the other person, as he wrapped his arms around his first passenger.

As soon as he did so, his hands leaving the side of the little rowing boat, Ingwaz felt himself being taken up into the air once more. Thunder clapped overhead.

The person in his arms shook violently. If he screamed Ingwaz didn’t hear it through the raging storm. Tightening his hold on his passenger, he then allowed for his glowing cape which was stiff and spread like a kite, to collapse. As soon as it did Ingwaz went flying backwards.

Plummeting back towards his ship. The rope was reeling him in like a catch on the end of a fishing rod. As the golden planks of the ship’s deck became visible, Ingwaz quickly ignited his fyufyre once more. Moments before he would have hit the mast his cloak spread out again and he glided the last two meters down. 

His landing was clumsy, he tripped almost as soon as his feet touched the ground, but the stranger he had saved was safe. The stranger immediately dropped to the floor, back hunched and figure shaking. Ingwaz would have to ignore them for now, as he had another stranger to save. 

Ingwaz ran towards the railings of the Rhyton. The wind whistled in his ears as he catapulted himself off of the edge with one tremendous leap. 

Instantly he was taken up by the gale. He went up with such force he nearly gagged as the rope tightened around his stomach. Wincing, he tried to rub the rain from his eyes and search for the other boat. 

For a moment Ingwaz held his breath, the boat was nowhere in sight. He felt himself despair slightly as he watched the rolling waves churn. Then suddenly, a glimpse of oak wood appeared upon the surface.

The boat had broken, about a third of it was gone, however it was still floating. Only just. And upside down. 

A head of ginger brown was visible above the waves, the hands of the person clinging to the wood with all their might. It was a matter of minutes before the wood would sink along with the stranger. Ingwaz had to act now. 

Diving down, he felt himself soar with precision towards the sea’s surface, only realising as second too late that the boat had drifted away now and he was headed towards an empty wave. 

Ingwaz had no choice but to collapse his wings once more, having to shift his angle and be hoisted back up into the clouds. The boat was moving too fast for him to track. He was going to have to get his passenger to slow down.

Ingwaz hardened his gaze. This was risky. Very risky. But it was the only option he could think of. 

Soaring back down, Ingwaz purposefully tilted his cloak so that he turned, to circle the boat. He felt the wind whip his hair into his eyes and the ocean rumble.

“Let go of the boat! Let go!” He bellowed at the figure in the water. 

For a dreadful moment he thought the stranger hadn’t heard him, but after a few seconds he watched them remove their hands from the side of the wood tumbling back into the waves. 

Ingwaz then made his move. Without the dynamic edges of the boat, the stranger was no longer moving so quickly upon the waves. They were however, begging to sink, surfacing less and less with every second that passed. Arms flailing it the water. 

Ingwaz dipped forwards at high speed. He practically threw himself towards the struggling stranger. Ingwaz grasped the person's wrist. As soon as he felt that he had managed to grab a limb, Ingwaz drew in his cloak and soared. 

The stranger was pulled from the water like a plug, their body being yanked upwards by Ingwaz’s firm grip. He heard the person gasp and sputter frantically for air as he tucked them securely in his arms. 

The wind howled around him. His hair flailing out behind him like ribbons. He shut his eyes, drawing in a deep breath before pulling himself back down towards the ship. No sooner had he relaxed the angle of his makeshift glider, Ingwaz felt his stomach drop as he was suddenly sent spiralling through the wind in random directions. 

His eyes widened when he realised what was happening. He watched in horror as the rope around the mast began to unraveled in front of him. Loosening itself from the ship and Ingwaz along with it. 

Ingwaz desperately attempted to stop himself from being kicked around by the wind, willing the shape of his cloak to change. Change wasn’t happening fast enough, the rope was nearly entirely undone now, snaking away from the wood. In a matter of minutes he would be absorbed by the storm and embedded in the ocean. Forever. 

Suddenly, the loose rope gained tension again. Ingwaz saw the rope become a straight line once more. Instantly he wasted no time. He closed his cloak as fast as he could and plopped towards the deck of his ship like a stone in a pond. 

He couldn’t see a thing through the golden strands of his hair. He didn’t wan’t to let go of the person he was holding in some stupid attempt to gain vision, so instead turned on to his back midfall and braced himself for the hard impact of the deck. 

To his surprise and possible luck, he felt his back collide with the hard wood of the ship’s mast first. It sent a hot burning pain through his spine, but managed to break the fall enough for the next descent on to the deck to be less harsh. 

The wind was knocked out of his stomach as he went sprawling across the wood. His arms trying to shield the stranger he had rescued as much as possible from the blow. Ingwaz let out a tired wheeze as he peeked his eyes open. 

A shadow had fallen over him. When he looked up he spied the first stranger, looming over him hesitantly. Ingwaz opened his mouth to speak but instead ended up drawing a shaky breath.

He held up his hand, as if to signal this person to give him a few minutes to regain his composure. The storm still surged round them, but now he was safely back on the Rhyton, the ship within his direct control once more, things no longer felt so hazardous. Ingwaz finally loosened his arms, allowing for stranger number two to slump forwards sputtering and coughing up water. 

Stranger number one was quick to assist their companion, bending down to check if they were alright. Meanwhile Ingwaz was steadily making it to his feet once more. Once upright, he rolled his shoulders backwards, stretching his aching spine and flexing his fingers a few times. 

“Arden almighty.” he muttered to himself as he heard his bones click. The attention of his two recused guests now turned to him.

Ingwaz tossed some of his hair over his shoulder. The strands fell into place neatly in an almost gravity defying way that caused them to shimmer with a golden ripple. 

“Alright you two,” He declared, clapping his two hands together, “Inside come on. You’ll freeze.” 

Shooing the two strangers up off the floor he very quickly led the group towards the back of the boat, where the small door to below deck was. Taking the key out of his pocket, he unlocked it and let them all inside before shutting the door firmly behind them. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Ingwaz: Uninvited Guests

The main room of Ingwaz’s ship was small and squarish in shape. It was also the only room that wasn’t below deck. It was cozy despite being the closest to the rain outside, with the walls lined by a simple wooden bench with read and green cushions and pillows piled on top. Two small lanterns hung from the ceiling on a short chain so that they did not swing about too much, radiating a soft orange glow.

In the center of the room,only two steps away from the door was a small table, it’s wooden surface light and smooth. A huge thick leather book sat upon the center of the surface, with loose pieces of paper and a thin blue pen by the side, it’s metal tip inkless and shiny. Other books could be seen around the cabin either carefully slotted into boxes like shelves that had been screwed onto the walls or lying in amongst the cushions. 

There was no window in this room, the only other see through glass being the very top strip of the door. Ingwaz shuffled out of the way of the two strangers and gestured for them to sit. 

Although seemingly hesitant at first to get the bench wet, the two then hastily shuffled their way in between the table and sat down. Water ran down their cloaks and dripped onto the floor. They were shivering. 

Ingwaz gave a humm as he looked up the two lights in the room. Seeing as he was no longer focusing all his energy on his cloak he decided to concentrate on increasing the warmth of the lanterns. The change was not immediately noticeable, but Ingwaz hoped it would help everyone dry off more quickly and provide the startled pair with a little more comfort. 

Now they were sitting across from him, hoods lowered and scarves untucked, Ingwaz was able to get a good look at their faces. The one who was shaking the most, the navy piece of cloth around his neck now half undone and hanging loosely, was curled in on himself. His face was pale and there were tired blue bags under his eyes. His hair was probably brown, but now drenched with water appeared black against his skin. Tiny strands curled outwards framing his thin cheeks and icy blue eyes. His bottom lip trembled and had almost gone purple with cold. 

Sitting next to him was the second stranger, Ingwaz took one look at them and realised this had been the one to talk to him in the Inn and on the ship. A woman, probably no older than twenty three, with brick brown hair, tanned skin, and bold eyes the colour of obsidian met his gaze. She had a flat nose and an oval face, her lips drew into a thin line. Though she was clearly cold, she held herself higher than her companion, her shoulders set backwards. There were a few seconds of silence as Ingwaz took in the pair, who studied him with returned curiosity as if it were their first time meeting eyes. 

Then, Ingwaz decided to just rip off the bandaid and be the first to talk. 

“So,” he said, breaking the silence, “my pliers?”

The girl looked taken aback for a moment, her jaw falling open, before a frown spread across her face. She opened her mouth to answer again, but seemed unable to. 

“Nevermind,” Ingwaz said quickly, holding up his hand to dismiss the issue, “It doesn’t matter. How are you both feeling?”

There was a pause as the girl considered the question. 

“Shit, but alive. Thanks to you.” She finally managed to say, leaning back awkwardly against the cushions. 

Ingwaz gracefully accepted the answer, though short and indirect, he took it as a sign of gratefulness as well.

“My name is Ingwaz Nepitus Freyr. I’m a Questseeker and Navigator,” He introduced, “This is my ship, The Rhyton.”

“Oh. It’s a nice ship,” The woman said, looking around the cabin herself, “Very… gold?”

Ingwaz snorted in amusement at that obvious remark. He drummed his fingers across the table surface awaiting further conversation from her. Finally she turned back towards him.

“Ruffina,” She said bluntly, then gestured towards her companion, “He’s Doni.” 

“Hello,” Doni replied nervously, retreating back further in his seat, “Thank you for saving us.” 

Ingwaz blinked. It was the first time he thought he had heard the young man speak. His tone was quiet, however, his words were enunciated very clearly. It was yet another accent, different from his companions and far more subtle in its undertones. Not one he recognized though it did sound familiar. If he had to estimate he’d say far Jornolf bordering on Brickon? Or perhaps the Tarton isle? 

“It’s no problem pal,” He replied, giving him a quick smile, “Ruffina, Doni, nice to have you onboard despite the… unfortunate circumstances. I’m not going to ask anything of you, not even as compensation for my pliers. I have to say though, I am very curious as to how you two have ended up in this situation?”

The young woman crossed her legs and sighed.

“We, ah well,” She started, cracking her knuckles absentmindedly, “That is a fair question to ask, really, I get it. And we appreciate you not making us pay for damages and stuff, but I won’t be telling you anything. Sorry Ingwiz.”

“Ingwaz.”

“Ingwaz. Yeah. Got it. Thanks.” 

Ingwaz raised an eyebrow studying the pair. Doni was still avoiding eye contact and Ruffina had puffed up her chest, head raised and meeting his gaze without hesitancy. 

“Whatever, I don’t care.” He stated, leaning back against the soft furniture.

“Wait really?” Doni asked, earning himself an light elbow from the girl next to him. 

“Yeah, really.” 

Doni was still looking at him with uncertainty. Ingwaz couldn’t help but smirk at the boy's dumbfoundedness. 

“Listen, it’s just like I said, I was curious,” He explained twiddling a lock of golden hair between his finger and thumb, “Nothing more. If you don’t want to tell me that’s fine. It’s no big deal. I’m not going to toss you two overboard or anything.”

At that Doni seemed to visibly relax. It was warmer in the cabin now, and though the ghastly gale could still be heard outside, the room had a much comfier feel to it now. Ingwaz watched as the boy uncurled a little, like a new sprouting leaf. 

“Now, about the incident at the inn, you’re being chased aren’t you?” 

Ruffina opened her mouth to speak but Ingwaz quickly interrupted. 

“Not prying. You don’t have to tell me why or even who, but I’d like to know a little bit given they could be tracking my ship now depending on how dedicated they are.” He reasoned, “And they made an attempt on my life. I think I deserve to know a little bit about my own attempted murderers.” 

Ruffina’s eyes narrowed.

“Too bad I can’t argue with that.” She muttered after a few seconds, “ We are being hunted. Probably by a lot of people though those two you saw earlier seem to be the most invested in the issue. The tall lady with the long dark hair gives us the most trouble. She’s a turrotian.”

Ingwaz nodded. He knew that.

“And a sorcerer.” She added. 

Ingwaz had not known that. Well it certainly made things a lot more interesting.

“What’s her scope?” He asked.

“Arden, I have no idea, I don’t really know much about spooky magic stuff. She’s been observed to have some form of ice manifestation at the least. The evidence for that claim would be those few times she threw icicles at me when I was trying to run away.”

“Any other incidents?” 

“Oh yeah, she also froze part of a river to try and capture us faster.” 

“Ok,” Ingwaz said thinking carefully, “And she hasn’t been observed to do anything else except the usual turrotian blood shenanigans?”

“No. Why?” Ruffina asked, crossing her arms.

“Well I’m just thinking, is it possible that she could be a mage or a blancabee instead?”

“Probably, does it matter?”

Ingwaz paused.

“Not really, no, at least not for the moment,” He said trailing off, “What about the lady in blue? The one I might have half blinded.”

Ruffina had to pause for a moment to think back to the much smaller woman who had been at the scene. She wrinkled her nose as she remembered.

“Oh her? Ugh, I have no idea. She’s always hanging around the sorcerer. I don’t know her purpose or intentions.”

“I do,” Doni quietly interrupted, “Or at least I know a little. She works for Marchioness Mourden. I think her servant or secretary of some sort.” 

“Marchioness Morden?” Ingwaz repeated, thinking of the ice sorcerer from the inn in his head, the blueness of her eyes and the expensive texture of her robes, “A Marchioness? Of … Brickon?”   
  


Doni paled and raised a hand to cover his mouth quietly. He looked to his companion with regret causing Ingwaz to sigh.

“Once again, I don't care. I have no feelings towards the Brickon. The only thing this information really tells me is that this whole web clearly goes beyond me, though I’d already figured that out by the way you both speak,” Ingwaz told them clearly, “I really don’t fancy getting all tangled up in this mess you two seem to have found yourselves in. If ice powers and a half blind servant girl is all this Morden lady seems to have going for her I doubt we’re in any real danger for now.”

Ingwaz yawned and stretched his arms behind his back.

“Guess that leaves us with just one more thing to sort out then eh? What’s the plan now?”

Ruffina looked at him, for the first time seeming a little embarrassed.

“I don’t know.” She admitted, giving a strand of her drying hair a tug.

“I’ll tell you what my plan is if that helps you?” Ingwaz said, scratching his chin.

He got two slightly eager nods back from the two people in front of him, so decided to continue. 

“Well, I’ll probably be heading to the Laekis Docktown. There’s a market there, I’ll see if I can pick up some stuff. If there are any jobs going I might do a bit of work too.”

“Jobs?” Ruffina asked, tilting her head. 

“Not the kind you would be suited to.” Ingwaz said firmly.

“You don’t know what jobs I’m suited for” She muttered, lowering her head, “But fine.”

“What else is there?” Doni asked curiously, “Any sort of relic shops or magi smiths?”

“Oh most certainly, they’ll be a few I reckon,” Ingwaz affirmed, “though I’m not sure the quality or the range of services. Are you looking to get something crafted?”

“No.” The young woman replied, refusing to elaborate any further.

“Alright,” he said with a shrug, “Anyway, can I have your weapons?”

“What?”

“Your weapons,” Ingwaz stated again, “the sax you were weidling earlier. I’m not going to do anything with them, just put them away whilst you are traveling here. I don’t fancy getting my throat slit in my sleep.” 

“We aren’t going to!” The young brick haired lady bristled.

“Yeah but I don’t know that,” Ingwaz scoffed “What do I have? Your word? What’s that going to do?”

“Yeah well what do we have? How do we know you aren’t going to try and kill us?” She snapped back. 

“Ru…” Doni said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. 

“No, you’re right,” She said exhaling a shaky breath, “Thats stupid, I’m sorry.”

Ingwaz watched as the girl stuck her arm inside her cloak and fiddled around the area by her belt. The knife from earlier was then placed upon the table, now inside an ivory sheath decorated with bees and vines. Ruffina pushed the weapon towards him.

“Here. I’m sorry. You just saved our lives. If you wanted us dead you would have let us drown.” She mumbled. 

“It’s alright, being cautious isn’t a bad thing. It’s a good survival skill to have.” Ingwaz remarked, “Any other weapons?”

The two looked at each other, then back at him shaking their heads. 

“Alright.” Ingwaz declared, clapping his hands together. 

He reached out a hand and plucked the sax off of the table, turning it over in his hands a few times. He then stood up, reaching behind him he pulled a wooden box with metal rims down from one of the selves. He placed it upon the table and flicked the latches upwards. Then without looking at the inside of the chest or giving the sax any further glance he placed it inside and let the lid drop shut. 

Pulling out a small stick of iron, Ingwaz quickly infused the tip with fyufyre and watched as it morphed into the jagged edges of a key. He then locked the box quickly and returned it to its previous position on the shelf, pocketing the stick of iron once more. 

“How long till we reach Laekis?” Ruffina asked as he sat down again. 

“Mmm, a week most likely. Perhaps a bit more. Laekis is all the way up north.”

“Alright, that’s good,” She said nodding her head slightly, “I promise we’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible, but uh, until then, if there’s anything you need help with on the ship, I’ll do it.” 

“We’ll do it.” The boy next to her quickly input. 

“I’ll do it.” She stated firmly again. 

Ingwaz blinked at the two, who were staring at each other tensely. Neither looked away, and there seemed to pass between them a silent agreement they would talk about things later. Which reminded Ingwaz. 

“Oh yes, whilst you’re here I better give you your own bit of space.” He remembered, standing up from his seat and shuffling over the left side of the cabin. 

The two glanced after him, now that he had captured their attention. Ingwaz felt their eyes on him as he bent down and opened the hatch leading down to the deck below. There was a short ladder that led into a short dim hallway. Narrow enough for only one person to walk down. The hallway cut straight through the middle of the ship. 

“Come on then, let me show you around.” He said gesturing down the ladder. 

The two immediately got up to follow him. Ingwaz noted how their hair was now dry, messy and a little stiff with salt but dry nonetheless. Their robes seemed less heavy now too, there was more movement in the fabric as his guests walked over towards him. 

“I’ll go first,” Ingwaz told the two, already halfway down the hatch. 

When his feet touched the ground, Ingwaz heard the sturdy floorboards of the ship give a slight woody creak. He made sure to take a few steps backwards down the hallway to leave enough room for his two new guests to get down safely. 

It was dimmer below deck, with only one lantern present. The rest of the light was currently being provided through Ingwaz’s golden glowing hair. This apparently made him rather hard to look at in such lighting as once Ruffina’s oval face came into sight, she squinted harshly at him. 

“Sorry.” He said, giving her a light smile. 

“I don’t really have any spare rooms intended for people to sleep in. My Rhyton is quite small, I make use of the space I have,” Ingwaz began to say as he walked down the slim corridor, “I could free up some space at the back of one of my storage rooms, It might make enough space for me to set up a cot for at least one of you.”

“We have no issues about sharing,” came the woman's voice from behind him, “We could share a cot.” 

Ingwaz hummed at that.

“You sure?”

“Yes, we’re used to sharing a room.” Came Doni’s voice, it rang out like a sort of quiet echo in the hull, bouncing off of the curved planked walls. 

“Alright,” Ingwaz said stopping by one of the doors and fiddling with the sliding bolt, “We’re just going to pop in here first and get something to eat.”

The door swung open quickly as the boat tremoured, coming to a jarring halt before it could slam into the wall as there was a short chain attached to the top of the door. 

“Quickly, inside, before it slams back and crushes your fingers,” Ingwaz said, holding the handle whilst the other two hurriedly scampered inside, “This is the pantry.”

He watched as Ruffina and Doni peered around the dark room, Doni holding on to his friend for slight support as the ship swayed. Shadows of cured meat hanging from hooks swung from the ceiling. There were many barrels and crates all stacked neatly on top of eachother, ropes and chains wrapped around each other to keep the piles from bouncing appart. He could hear the chinking of metal everytime the ship glossed over a slight wave. 

Walking over to one of the piles he knelt down next to one birch coloured crate and pulled out his iron stick from his belt. Morphing the top of the pole so it became flat he then stuck it under the lid of the crate and applied pressure. The wood squeaked as the crate opened revealing about seven jars, all nestled together between clumps of straw and feathers. Reaching in hand Ingwaz pulled out one of the jars and smiled. 

“Pickled herring anyone?” 

Ingwaz chuckled at the blank faces of his new guests. Inside the jar was a green yellow type liquid with slim chunks of visible fish flesh and skin all wedged together inside. The white and gray scales were clearly visible pressing up against the glass. The meat of the herring was a dulled pink with the center of the meat a more grayish purple colour. Sometimes these jars contained an onion or two as well but not this time, which was a shame because he liked the surprise.

“Sure.” Ruffina said, still looking at the jar with a high degree of wariness. 

There was a small pop as Ingwaz managed to pull the lid off. The acidic smell of pickled fish wafted into the air. Ingwaz was very much used to it, it wasn’t the nicest smell on earth but it was familiar to him so he actually ended up quite liking it. He then gestured for the other two to sit on the floor with him, which they did with some hesitance. 

Ingwaz then fished out three very small wooden bowls from a barrel beside the crate and set them down. He also gathered a couple of long thin wooden sticks, with an extremely pointy end and handed those out too. Once everybody had a bowl and was settled he began to distribute the pickled herring among the three. The chunks of flesh unfurled from their packed in positions as they flopped into the bowls with a splat. The herring meat jiggled as they landed on top of eachother, their surfaces shiny and wet.

Ruffina was the first to make a move, lifting her stick so it was poised above the food and bringing it down with precision. She then lifted it curiously, eyeing the fish on the stick for no more than three seconds before leaning forwards and tearing a bite out of it with her teeth. Doni started at her with wide blue eyes as she chewed, and chewed, and chewed and chewed, and winced, and chewed and swallowed.

“What’s wrong? Don’t like fish?” Ingwaz teased. 

“Not really actually. But it’s fine. I’ll eat it. Thanks for the food.” She replied, her eyebrows slightly knitted as she raised her stick for another bite.

“I mean I could offer you some smoked ham or something instead?” Ingwaz said pitying the girl slightly as she maintained her brave face whilst continuing to eat. He didn’t have much ham left and was intending on saving it for himself but he actually liked pickled fish, beside he could just get more meat next market stop.

“No. It’s alright. We’re at sea and we’re going to be for a while. I should get used to this.” She told him after swallowing another uncomfortable mouthful.

“I guess that’s fair. The ham will only last us another day or so anyway.” He sighed. 

He then turned to look at how Ruffina’s companion was holding up and to his surprise the meek looking boy was practically finished already. Doni caught him looking and flushed in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry Sir Ingwaz,” He apologised, slowing down to just nibble the edges of the fish instead, “I was just rather hungry.” 

“Don’t apologise,” Ingwaz replied with a chuckle, “And you don’t have to call me Sir or anything. Ingwaz is fine.”

Ingwaz then reached across to Doni and scooped a couple of his own fish slices into the boy’s nearly empty bowl. The boy looked rather surprised for a minute, then smiled at him weakly. Ingwaz finished his food in a mere matter of minutes and stood up with a stretch.

“Right,” He said, picking up his bowl to take with him, “I’m going to go see if I can make some room for you two to sleep somewhere. Stay here and finish eating, if you’re thirsty there’s some ale just across there.”

Ingwaz had some trouble trying to move all his spare supplies from one of the storage rooms to the other. It was made easier by the fact his second storage room was meant for things like linen and clothes, so it wasn’t the lifting of these items that was taxing, but rather the organizing and making space for it in his first room that was an issue. However Ingwaz managed. He did have to put all the blankets with his cloaks and there was a close call with nearly knocking over a box of fishing hooks, however in just half an hour he had managed to successfully make something that looked like a bed in the first storage room, now dubbed his guest room. 

He returned to the pantry rather quickly after that to find his two guests waiting patiently for him. Once Ingwaz had put the bowls inside the washing bucket and resealed the crate, the group left the pantry and headed further down the short corridor.

“This left side here is the toilet room,” Ingwaz said pointing to the door as he passed it, “My room is back there opposite food storage. To your right is my main storage room, if you do decide to go in there try not to mess things up it’s really hard to keep tidy.”

Ingwaz could see his guests nodding out of the corner of his eye, their movements definitely seemed smaller now. He was guessing they were probably quite tired, he couldn’t blame them though. 

“Here,” Ingwaz babbled, coming to a stop at the end of the corridor, right in front of the tiny door that led into his new guest room, “Sorry for the odd triangle shape. It is at the very front of the boat and it’s got an odd slope to it but I left extra furs so hopefully it should be pretty comfy.” 

Ingwaz examined the room one last time. It was indeed a funny shape, narrower at one end of the room and wider near the door. It was also a titchy space and in order to make the bed big enough for two people Ingwaz had ended up with a very warped bed to floor ratio. In fact the whole room was pretty much bed. Enough walking space for maybe three people to squat. Ingwaz comforted himself by reminding him that it was only temporary, and it was the best thing he could come up with. Besides his two guests didn’t have to put up with it for more than a week, and then things would return to normal.

“It’s great,” Ruffina said softly, lowering her eyes,“Thank you.”

Doni also uttered a grateful thanks, taking his companions hand in his own as they made their way into the new room. 

“No problem pal, have a good rest.” Ingwaz said.

And with that he gently pulled the door towards him and closed it. As he turned his back to leave he could hear timid whispers and slightly shuffling behind the door as his cautious guests settled in. Ingwaz quickly made his way to his own room, not exhausted, but in good need for a nap. Hopefully the journey ahead of them would pass easily. 


	4. Ingwaz: Old friend

Ingwaz didn’t expect to see his two guests up so early. Ingwaz was one of those people that rose with the sun. As soon as the slight tint of violet began to blend into the corners of the night sky against the surface of the sea, he would wake. By the time he was dressed, face washed, and up on deck, that violet would have become a splash of indigo blue and Ingwaz would be there to watch as the yellows and pinks followed, like ink in water, trickling into the morning sky. 

He could see shoulder length brick brown hair moving in the sea breeze, a head of blackberry curls next to the figure. These two guests didn’t seem to be speaking, just standing, admiring. Ingwaz could appreciate that. He had always felt so lucky, to wake up to such an exclusive and private view, so stunning and wonderful was the ocean in the morning, and here were two new people, experiencing it for the first time. How lucky. 

“Good morning,” Ingwaz greeted, hopping down the ladder that led to the helm as he approached the pair on the forecastle, “have you both slept well?”

They turned to face him, the pinprick peeks of sunlight gracing their faces. Doni smiled at him and Ruffina gave a nod of acknowledgement. 

“Good morning Ingwaz,” Doni replied, “I’m afraid I’ve not really slept on a boat before, so this was all bit new. I’m sure I’ll get used to it in no time.” 

Ingwaz chuckled at the boy's nervous honesty. Placing two hands on his hips he stared out across the much clamer sea’s surface and sighed. 

“Alright, breakfast anyone? I’m afraid it’s going to have to be more fish for us Doni, something less oily though. Ruffina you can have the rest of the smoked ham for as long as it lasts.” Ingwaz offered to his guests. 

“Yes, thank you.” Ruffina replied gratefully, the tips of her ear going a little pink. 

“I love fish, thank you very much Ingwaz.” Doni told the man politely. 

Ingwaz smiled back at the two before stretching his arms and walking down below deck. He reemerged about a minute later holding two smoked kippers, a wedge of ham and leather wineskin, now newly full of beer and hung around his waist. 

The group ended up sitting in a sort of semicircle upon the deck. Listening to the splashes of waves and feeling the boat cruise up and down softly. 

“Oh,” Ruffina said in a surprised manner, examining the wood she was sitting on, “It’s no longer gold.”

“I was wondering what looked different.” Doni mused, nibbling away at his breakfast. 

“That’s cause I put the sail up for a bit.” Ingwaz said, gesturing towards the mast of his ship. Sure enough, the white sail was out, taught with the wind and gently pulling the ship along. 

“Yesterday was a lot, I thought I’d start this morning with a break from being in control,” the blond haired man added, taking a swig of beer from the leather sack and wiping his mouth, “It’ll be back to gold and speedy just after I’m done eating.” 

“Oh, ha, that’s fine, no pressure.” Ruffina laughed. 

It was a bit of a nervous laugh, but Ingwaz thought it was good she seemed more comfortable this morning. He took a large bite out of his kipper and munched peacefully. 

“Is that why your ship turns gold? Because you’re directly controlling it?” Doni piped up from next to his friend. 

“Mmh,” Ingwaz affirmed, chewing his mouthful before swallowing so he could elaborate, “Influencing my ship yeah. I find boats the easiest to move, sometimes it’s a challenge though, they aren’t half heavy and bulky things.” 

Doni listened with interest. The breeze tugged at his dark curls and the white collars of his shirt. His ice blue eyes sparked with curiosity. 

“Is it alright if I ask another question?” 

“Go ahead pal.” Ingwaz told the young man leaning back slightly.

“Are you a sorcerer?”

“Ha, nope,” Ingwaz snorted, “I’m a questseeker and navigator. Those are the official terms for my job anyway. People hire me to go on quests for them or find something for them. Usually sea related things though.” 

“How do you do magic then?” 

“Fyufyre.”

Doni blinked, tilting his head curiously.

“Fyu- what? Pardon?” 

Ingwaz raised an eyebrow at the boy beside him, who lowered his head as if suddenly feeling guilty. 

“He doesn’t know what fyufyre is. Or what you are.” Ruffina input bluntly. 

Doni seemed to withdraw further in embarrassment.

“Sorry.” He mumbled in apology.

Ingwaz let out a rather loud laugh and put the cap back on his wineskin before setting it down. 

“No need to be sorry Doni. It’s a fine question, don't worry about it,” He quipped lightly, “ I’m a Fyukyre. We don’t live in the three kingdoms, we live in floating cities called shipidales that rotate around mainland Cardenia. I guess if you’re from deep within these kingdoms I wouldn’t expect you to know a thing about us. We don’t really interact with the mainland much.” 

“Floating cities?” The young man asked in surprise, “There are floating cities out at sea?”

“Yeah but they’re actually pretty hard to find if you aren’t tracking them. If you spend all day everyday sailing though, you’re bound to run into one at some point accidentally,” Ingwaz explained, “They’re pretty awesome.” 

“I know about the floating cities and stuff, but I never quite understood that fire thing you mentioned earlier.” Ruffina spoke up questioningly, finishing her breakfast.

“Oh what, fyufyre?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s our magic,” Ingwaz told the two, “Fyufyre, it’s in our hair and blood. It’s like igniting a spark within you and setting things alight with your soul. I use it to steer the Rhyton when these winds become unfavourable. Or just in general these days. It’s pretty handy. It also makes things gold, though not for every Fyukyre fellow. Just a couple of us.”

“Wow.” Doni marvelled.

“That’s what you did with my seax the other day?” Ruffina asked, “When you made it glow and stuff and look more like a sword.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry though It’s not permanent.” 

“I know. I wasn’t worried. That’s pretty cool.” She admitted adjusting her leather belt.

Ingwaz felt himself smile at the comment. 

“Is it dangerous? Being a questseeker alone?” Doni asked, tearing off another piece of yellow kipper with his finger and thumb. 

“Yeah. Totally. But it’s the life that suits me.” Ingwaz replied confidently. 

He wouldn’t have guessed it growing up. If you had asked him what he wanted to do back when he was twelve once he matured, he would have shrugged. He honestly didn’t know back then. He might have even said he wanted to just make flatbread for the rest of his life like his nana. Never once would he have guessed he’d have become every school kid's dream, a successful Questseeker. An adventurer. 

He was glad it turned out this way. Even if he only chose this route in life to escape from the clasps of his hometown, he had ended up finding a new home out at sea alone and he couldn’t be happier for it. 

“What do you two hope to do with your lives?” Ingwaz asked, now addressing his guests. 

“I don’t know,” Ruffina replied fiddling with the loop of her belt, “I had a plan, but it no longer works so I don’t know.”

Ingwaz felt his gaze soften.

“That’s alright. Things don’t always work out. Plans change. We deal with them, you know?”

“Yeah,” She scoffed, “Being hunted and having to be on the run definitely wasn’t the plan.”

Ingwaz let out a chuckle at the young woman’s sarcastic comment. He didn’t know her, he didn’t plan to get to know her either, but he had a feeling things would turn out alright for her in the end. 

“What about you Doni?”

“I don’t know either.” came the man's reply. 

Ingwaz rolled his eyes. 

“Oh come on, one of you must have some idea of what you want to do in the future.”

“I do!” Doni piped up defensively, then lowered his tone so it was softer, “I mean I do. There are lots of things I want to do, but logistically they just aren’t possible.”

“Ok well, putting logistics aside what would you do if you could do anything?” Ingwaz didn’t mean to pry, really he didn’t care at all about other people's business and all that, but he found himself naturally trying to make small talk with these two anyway. 

“Well,” Doni started, twiddling his thumbs, “I suppose I would really like to learn magic one day. Become a sorcerer.” 

“Well that’s a reasonable goal,” Ingwaz pointed out, “Just because you think you can’t given your current predicament doesn’t mean it will never happen. You’re young, got your whole life ahead of you. Something good will come for you one day, I’m sure of it.”

A small reluctant smile tugged at the corners of Doni’s lips and he looked back up.

“Thank you Ingwaz.” He said quietly. 

“Thank you for breakfast as well.” Ruffina added with a yawn. 

“It’s no problem, lads.” Ingwaz replied, sensing the meal had come to an end. He stood up slowly, securing his wineskin around his waist once more and clapped his palms together. 

“Alright, time to get my Ryhton moving again.” Ingwaz declared, already walking over to deal with the sail. Once it was put away and any loose ropes properly hung and tied, Ingwaz ignited the fyufyre within him again.

He felt it bubble within him and the effect it had on his ship was immediate. The wooden boards and planks began to shimmer with his energy, and what had been a gentle breeze before could now be heard clearly in his ears as the Rhyton powered through the waves with speed. Ingwaz watched as his guests moved to the middle of the ship to peer over the railing, watching the sea sweep by them.

He grinned as he resumed his position at the forecastle of the ship and stared out across the horizon. How alive sailing made him feel. The ocean foamed and sprayed as the Rhyton continued out on it’s journey. 

Igwaz didn’t extinguish the fyufyre for another four days. The rest of his journey up towards Laekis was as peaceful as he had wished it to be. His conversations with Doni and Ruffina during this time, though pleasant, hadn’t gone much deeper than that first breakfast they had all shared together. However as their destination crept closer with every passing hour Ingwaz felt himself wishing them genuine good luck on their future endeavours. They seemed like two capable young folk, and despite their rough start in the Argondy Inn, they appeared to be pretty nice as well. 

Ruffina, though a little defensive and blunt, was kind enough to help out with little chores around the ship these last few days, and Doni though quiet and less physically willing to help had immaculate manners and made himself helpful in other ways, such as alphabetizing some maps Ingwaz had lying around. It was much appreciated and would definitely make up for the fact that Ingwaz was going to have to spend some time re-sorting the storage rooms once his two guests finally leave. 

Ingwaz hummed as he surveyed the surrounding waters. Nothing but ocean rolled on for as far as he could see. The sun was almost directly above his boat and the nearest clouds were but blurs in the distance.The ocean sparkled and swirled the way it usually did. But there was something not quite right about it.

His eyes narrowed and he focused in on one particular spot not too far away from his ship. The waves rippled and shimmered like nothing had changed, but Ingwaz stared just long enough to see the shadow of something long and dark slithering under the water. 

He extinguished his Fyufyre immediately. Slowing the ship as fast as possible till it came to a near stop in the water. He held his breath as the Ryton was left rocking back and forth in the waves and the quietness of the sea began to settle in. Nothing could be heard anymore except the slosh of water against wood, but just because Ingwaz couldn’t hear it didn’t mean it wasn’t out there. 

He quickly ran across the deck back to his main cabin. His boots could be heard thudding against the wood. He was about to open the door when he came face to face with a surprised Ruffina. 

“What’s going on? Why did we stop moving?” She demanded peering over his shoulder to see if she could see anything. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Ingwaz replied flippantly, squeezing past her into the first room. He hurriedly began to rifle through a couple of crates stored under the benches until at last, he pulled out a sturdy looking axe, with black leather wrapped around the handle. 

“What? Are we being followed?” Ruffina asked, suddenly alert.

Ingwaz saw her eyes flicker up to the wooden box on the top shelf, the one he had stored her knife in just four days prior.

“I said don’t worry about it.” He tried to assured her, more softly this time as he marched out onto the deck, axe poised and ready. His eyes shone and he scanned the still sea surface once again. Where had it gone?

“If I’m being followed I need to know!” Ruffina shouted after him, “I need to be able to protect Doni-”

“It isn't here for you.” Ingwaz quickly rushed. He hadn’t meant to cut her off but he could now see the shadow underwater growing larger, as if it was swimming directly for the boat. He smirked only holding his axe tighter in his grip as he readied his stance. 

“It’s here for me.” He said.

Not a second later the huge body of a serpent-like creature burst forth from the waves. Ingwaz felt his chest rise with excitement as water sprayed the deck. Gray scales glitzed in the sun as the creature brang down it’s slimy webbed black claws, latching onto the Rhyton’s rails. The boat shook and Ingwaz could hear a yelp as the woman behind was knocked to the ground by the impact. 

“What the fuck!” She screamed. 

“Get inside Ruffina!” He directed her.

He didn’t bother listening out to hear if she had actually listened to him or not. No, he was too focused on moving positions. Pressing himself against the rails on the opposite side of the ship Ingwaz took a deep breath. He then propelled himself into a run up. As he sprinted across the deck he saw a long shadow being cast over him, creeping over the planks. The wallower was directly above him. Perfect.

Ingwaz crouched quickly, before leaping upwards towards the scaled belly of the long worm-like creature. He gave a short cry as he thrust his axe upwards and took a sharp swipe at the Wallower. A couple of sharp pointed scales were ripped from it’s skin and were sent flying. 

The wallower recoiled. A dry hissing noise that sounded like air leaving a bottle diffused into the air. Ingwaz looked up to see the creature holding itself upright, a tiny patch of damaged scales across it’s stomach, now leaking with small beads of blood. He could finally get a good look at the head of the creature.

Much like a snake the head was just the wider end of its rope like body, in the wallowers case it’s head was much more round. Upon first glance it may seem like the creature had no eyes, but Ingwaz knew better. Inside the huge gash-like openings on its neck that were the creature's gills were about five different pairs of tiny but quick eyes. The gills of a wallower often hid these eyes very well, fooling sailors into thinking them blind. 

The wallower hissed against, a dry and cracked screech opening its mouth fully. The oval shaped opening was now a full round circle, and lining the circle, hundreds and hundreds of rows of tiny white teeth. Their points stood out against the slimy purple flesh of the beast's throat.

Ingwaz charged towards the beast, flinging himself towards it’s tree trunk body. At the same time the best thrashed about in the water, raising it’s thin webbed arms and clawing at the air wildly. He felt his axe cleave cleanly through the bones of the creatures wirst as an arm came dangerously close in Ingwaz’s head. Thick blood splattered on the decking with a mud like consistency. Ingwaz avoided the mess instinctively and finally managed to get close enough to the beast to be able to leap upwards and wrap his arms around it. 

“Whoa.” He yelped as he nearly found himself sliding directly off of the creatures back and into the water. Its scales were far too slippery and yet far too pointy at the same time. Ingwaz quickly dug his axe into Wallower's spine as insurance that he wouldn’t fall. 

The beasts wheezed pathetically, struggling to fight off the man and stay afloat at the same time. 

“C’mon pal. You’re like the length of my own boat, surely you’re gonna put up more of a fight than that?” Ingwaz challenged the beast. 

In retaliation the creature dragged its talons across the side of the boat, causing wood to fracture and splinter and plop off into the waves.It was nothing major though, and easily repairable once Ingwaz reached the next docktown. 

“Really?” He tutted, clicking his tongue, “At least you’ll make a nice cloak.”

With a triumphant cry Ingwaz swung himself up towards the head of the beast and twirled his axe in his hands before bringing it back and swinging it forward. Ingwaz heard the woosh as his weapon soared towards the beasts neck, the blade a bruning blazing gold and sharper than ever. He heard the spines and ribs snap as his axe tore through the wollower’s flesh easily and sent it’s barrel sized head spinning up into the air. 

Ingwaz grinned victoriously as the body of the creature came down upon the deck of the Rhyton, with himself still perched upon it, and landed with such a massive thud he could see the ship sending out ripples across the waves. He then heard the head oh the wallower land in the water with a tremendous splash behind him. Oh well, the head wasn’t important. 

Ingwaz hopped off of the carcass quickly and placed two hands on either side of the worm like body, blood oozing over his hands. He then began hoisting up the rest of the Wallower, as a quarter of its tail was still hanging limply in the murky sea water. He didn’t want to risk the body falling back into the sea before he’d had a chance to skin it. 

“What was that?” Came a shocked voice.

Ingwaz looked up to see Ruffina in the doorway to the cabin, holding on to the side as if to steady herself. Her hair was a little messy and her eyebrows furrowed disbelief, however, she didn’t seem hurt which was good.

“A wallower,” Ingwaz replied, heaving up the last of the tail, which squelched as it hit the floor flicking water into the air, “they’re easy to deal with though don’t worry about it.”

“That thing was huge though! And it had so many teeth! Arden almighty I hate the ocean.” Ruffina declared placing a hand on her forehead. 

Ingwaz let out a laugh at that, attempting to tie his hair back loosely. 

“They look all tough, but believe me you get used to fighting them well enough when you’re a sailor.”

Ingwaz gave a cheerful wave as he saw a pale face peek out from behind Ruffina. Doni nervously eyed the corpse of the creature that was now on fully display across the floor. 

“It’s safe now! Can’t do anything now it’s dead,” Ingwaz called out the boy as he began rolling up his sleeves, “You can come on over.” 

The pair did end up walking out towards him, Ruffina with curiosity and her companion trailing behind her nervously. They came to stand beside Ingwaz, and he allowed himself to admire his kill in his own time now. 

“Gosh this thing was a full adult alright. Look at those scales, as strong and as shiny as steel,” He declared poking it with the tip of his axe. The two beside him watched mesmerised as the creature's flesh jiggled like pickled fish chunks. 

“I reckon there’s going to be enough skin for me to make a cloak for you two as well,” Ingwaz observed absent mindedly, before hurriedly adding, “That is, if you’d like me to.”

“Wallower skin cloak?” Ruffina asked with great interest. 

“Yeah, practically waterproof. Really good for sailing and rainy weather,” He explained with a smile, “I lost my previous cloak on my last quest, I was waiting for the chance to make another one.”

“And you’re offering to make us one too?” 

Ingwaz chuckled and gave the back of his neck a rub. 

“Yeah, it’s no problem to me. A cloak would be a really useful thing for you two to have. Not to mention I don’t have a use for all of this beast. Best not to waste right?” 

He expected the pair to look happy, or maybe a little surprised at the strange offer. What he did not expect was for Ruffina to bite her lip and lower her gaze.

“What’s wrong?” He asked gently, approaching the girl slowly. 

“It’s just- Arden this sounds so stupid,” The woman cursed, “We don’t have anyway to pay you back.”

Ingwaz felt his eyes widen slightly at the odd statement. 

“Oh no, no. You don’t have to pay me, I was offering the cloaks for free,” He told the girl quickly hoping to clear up the misunderstanding. 

“No, I know! That’s the point.” She sighed, her hands fidgeting as she finally looked up. He was surprised to see a sort of desperate softness in her dark eyes. 

“Just. Thank you. A lot.” She managed to say to him.

Ingwaz didn’t laugh at her, although some part of him wanted to just out of awkwardness, instead he opted to give her a hesitant light pat on the shoulder. It was the first time he’d touched her since he rescued her and Doni from drowning, but he felt it was the best appreciation he could show her for her gratefulness. 

“It’s no worry. Seriously, you two have been super helpful these past few days. That’s enough for me.” He admitted, now addressing both of his guests, “If you want I can get your knife back for a bit and you can help me gut this thing?” 

Ruffina’s face lifted at the offer. 

“Sounds great to me!” 

“Can I just watch?” Doni asked timidly watching the dead beast on the floor.

“Yeah of course you can pal.” Ingwaz laughed, straightening his back. The three sat down and got to work skinning the wallower, passing time until they reached their final destination. 


End file.
